Palestinian Islamic Jihad Reports It Found Hostage’s Remains in Gaza
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said Monday night that search teams in Gaza had located the remains of an Israeli captive, a development first reported by Al Jazeera before the group publicly acknowledged it. The announcement did not clarify whether the body would be returned to Israel or when a transfer might take place.
According to the information released, the search effort is part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire arrangement that went into effect in late September. Members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been conducting excavations in several areas of the Strip, including sites in the south of Gaza City, where workers were seen wearing clothing marked with Egyptian flags. These teams are also focused on a location in the Zeitoun neighborhood, where additional remains are believed to be buried under collapsed buildings.
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Three bodies are still unaccounted for in Gaza: Israelis Dror Or and Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, along with Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. Israeli officials describe these cases as the most challenging among the missing, noting that the sites connected to their deaths were heavily damaged over the course of the fighting.
Since the truce began, Hamas has maintained that the scale of destruction has slowed efforts to reach burial sites. The group claims that debris, unstable structures, and shifting rubble have complicated searches across multiple neighborhoods.
Israeli officials assessing the situation have offered mixed views. One involved in handling the file said last week that there is “a real effort and an authentic difficulty” in locating the bodies, according to Ynet. However, some senior figures argue that Hamas is intentionally slowing the process. They say the group may be seeking to prolong the first phase of the arrangement for its own benefit, including attempts to rebuild military capacity while negotiations continue.
